A flash, a bang ... and then a miracle

(Star Tribune)

Nate Thiel remembers nothing of the green sky, the vaporized tree or the lightning bolt that entered the back of his head, exited his left ankle and threw him 30 feet into a pile of downed trees in the middle of the Canadian wilderness.

Nor does the Breck senior recall that his heart apparently stopped and that he initially lost his hearing and sight. He remembers only the pain that tore through his body when he woke up a day later in a hospital 500 miles away.

Doctors told Thiel's parents that they didn't know how their son was alive and that he might never walk again.

Yet 15 months later, Thiel not only has regained full use of his arms and legs, he's also the starting quarterback for the Mustangs,who are 4-3. The only residual effects of the strike are three scars, a numb little toe and bouts of back pain.

"Am I amazed he's playing football?" said his father, John, also Breck's head football coach. "I think it's amazing he's walking around at all."

Still kicking

(Star Tribune)

Nine boys and girls in bare feet and crisp, white karate uniforms line up between the slide and the parallel bars at My Gym in Eden Prairie, waiting for their chance to practice the round kick.

Jake Erling, their black-belted karate teacher, known as "Mr. Jake," brandishes a red pad as a young sandy-haired boy raises his knee, turns and lands a blow with his foot. "KEEE-AAH!" the boy yells.

"Nice, Ben," Erling says. "That was a good, hard kick. You're awesome!"

Ben scampers to the back of the line, beaming.

When Erling was Ben's age, compliments like those stuck with him forever. Because he has cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease, people said he wouldn't live long. But simple words of praise in karate class made him believe he could be whatever he wanted to be.

"Come on, Will. Blast it. Nice kick, Will!"

Reading your own mind

(Star Tribune)

On a sunny Saturday in October, I spent 30 minutes eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- and enjoyed every morsel. I sat back on a picnic bench and closed my eyes, drinking in the warm autumn sun. Nearby, sparrows twittered from a maple tree -- and their high-pitched trills sounded like nothing I'd ever heard before.

Or maybe I simply hadn't noticed.

It's hard to notice when you never slow down. And rarely did I ever slow down -- until signing up last fall for an eight-week mindfulness class at the University of Minnesota.

There, I would learn to tamp down my stress through a course based on meditation and gentle yoga. I would learn that life isn't just a race to the next thing, and the next thing after that.

Most important, I would spend large blocks of time doing nothing. Gulp.

Playing in pain

(Star Tribune)

When the right knee isn't tender and sore, it's stiff and achy. But Katelyn Riddersen can't bring herself to stop playing.

The Totino-Grace High School junior plays volleyball year-round despite a knee that has been severely injured since last winter.

"My doctor told me what I could do to fix it -- that was take four months off because I'm overworking it," Riddersen said. "I said no way. I couldn't do it. That meant I would fall behind, and I didn't want to."

Others -- many others -- feel her pain.

Older adults are thriving in Minneapolis' diverse communities

(AARP Bulletin)

 In 2014, Lucy Galbraith relocated from Austin, Texas, to the notably cooler climate of Minneapolis, a move she called “invigorating.” Living in central Texas “was not healthy for me because I wasn't outside,” Galbraith says. “I drove from my air-conditioned house to my air-conditioned office to the air-conditioned store.”

Galbraith made this migration in her 60s to take a job as director of transit-oriented development at Metro Transit, which operates public transportation in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area. Her story is not unusual.

How big price hikes on prescription drugs hurt everyone in Minnesota

(AARP Bulletin)

Janice Allen spent almost four years on a specialized cancer medication with a price tag of more than $8,000 a month. When she considered forgoing the drug, against her doctor’s recommendation, it wasn’t because she could no longer afford it.

Even though her insurance covered all but her $100-per-month copay, Allen, 68, of Minnetonka, was “keenly aware” that the cost of her drug would be passed on to her colleagues in the form of higher premiums.

Too many people don’t see that uncontrolled drug price hikes hurt everyone, said Allen, a retired attorney for Anoka County. “If more people considered this, perhaps they would be more motivated to insist on changes.”

Property tax-aide aims to uncover savings

(AARP Bulletin)

Elizabeth Hughes Hitomi points to the Big Lake couple she helped last year as a case study of Minnesotans who have no inkling that they may qualify for a property-tax refund.

The parents of two young children had been preparing their taxes for years before dropping by an AARP Foundation Tax-Aide site for free help.

“We don’t qualify for anything there,” Hitomi recalled them saying when asked if they had their property-tax bill.

The Tax-Aide volunteer crunched the numbers anyway and discovered the couple were entitled to a $1,400 refund—plus another $1,200 from 2017.

Volunteer advocates go one-on-one

(AARP Bulletin)

When Vikki Casey Steward signed up to be an advocate for AARP Minnesota three years ago, she had “no idea the potential for impact the role offered beyond, for example, working the booth at the State Fair.”

Instead, two weeks after signing up, Steward, 62, of Eden Prairie, found herself at the state Capitol, meeting with her state senator and representative.

Soon after that, she met with her U.S. representative, Republican Erik Paulsen.

“He was very receptive; it didn’t matter what we brought up,” Steward recalled. “This is what people don’t necessarily know: Our representatives are genuinely interested in what people think and care about and want to hear from them.”

Taking strides toward a more livable community

(AARP Bulletin)

Just outside her high-rise condo in downtown Minneapolis, Jean Greener has her pick of walking options. A pedestrian greenway winds west to Loring Park, with a lake and fountain. Heading east leads to Nicollet Mall, a walkable 12-block stretch of restaurants, cafes and businesses. And in the winter, an expansive network of indoor skyways is available just across the street.

“You can be real urban, or you can play with the squirrels,” said Greener, 73, who tries to walk about three miles a day. “Walkability is obviously important. It helps you stay healthy. It gets you places. It’s just a way of relaxation and enjoying yourself.”

Minneapolis has long been known for its sprawling network of parks, bike paths and walkways. That’s just one reason that this year it became Minnesota’s first city to join the AARP Network of Age-Friendly Communities. Such communities must commit to improving outdoor space, transportation and housing.

Medicaid at 50 reaches 1 million state residents

(AARP Bulletin)

When Sally Downing retired from her job as a medical assistant for health reasons at 57, she and her husband signed up for catastrophic health insurance, gritting their teeth when they paid the monthly $427 premium.

“It was annoying, paying for it every month and knowing we’d probably never use it,” said Downing, 64, of Minneapolis. Because the policy, which carried $17,000 deductibles for each of them, didn’t cover medications or preventive care, “we both didn’t go to the doctor very much.”

Early last year, Downing learned  that she qualified for Medical Assistance—Minnesota’s version of Medicaid—thanks to expanded eligibility through the federal Affordable Care Act (ACA). Her medical care has been free since she enrolled in May 2014.

Making a difference regardless of age

(AARP Bulletin)

Eric Schnell defies easy categorization. He’s a “techie” and number cruncher who cares deeply about social justice. He’s a dreamer with a record of getting things done. He’s expounded on the potential of self-driving cars and helped kids who designed and built a garden at their school.

Now, the soft-spoken 51-year-old has acquired another moniker: “disruptor”—someone who disrupts stereotypes of aging. It’s the category from which he was selected as one of “50 Over 50” Minnesotans by AARP Minnesota and Pollen, a Minneapolis-based nonprofit that promotes community building. The list celebrates the state’s “most accomplished, inspiring leaders” over 50.

“Having personally benefited and learned so much from elders, [I think] it’s kind of extraordinary that we haven’t brought more attention to the gifts of older adults,” said Schnell, a Shoreview resident who has spent his career helping nonprofit and educational groups improve the way they operate and fulfill their missions. Last year, Schnell cofounded Self-Driving US.org, a nonprofit dedicated to making self-driving vehicles accessible, reliable and affordable to people with disabilities.

So much more than a box of books

(AARP Bulletin)

Kay Stoffels has been around books nearly all her life, working for decades as a librarian before health issues forced her to retire. So the idea of putting a dollhouse-size library in her own front yard naturally appealed to her, except for one thing: the price tag. 

“Money isn’t very plentiful, and I couldn’t afford to do it,” said Stoffels, 72, of St. Paul, who suffers from severe scoliosis.

When Stoffels learned she could set up a library for free, she was thrilled. Since December, she’s had a weather-resistant box stationed near her sidewalk, housing a variety of books, from romance novels to historical fiction to mysteries. And in spite of the “awful winter” that has kept her homebound, Stoffels said the tiny library has received plenty of use and helped her feel less alone